AUR helpers

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Warning: AUR helpers are not supported by Arch Linux. You should become familiar with the manual build process in order to be prepared to troubleshoot problems.
Note: Please use the discussion page to suggest edits to this article: Talk:AUR helpers.

AUR helpers automate usage of the Arch User Repository. In particular, they may automate the following tasks:

  • searching for packages published on the AUR;
  • resolving of dependencies between AUR packages;
  • retrieve and build AUR packages;
  • retrieve web content, such as user comments;
  • submission of AUR packages.

Pacman only handles updates for pre-built packages in its repositories. AUR packages are redistributed in form of PKGBUILDs and need an AUR helper to automate the re-build process. However, keep in mind that a rebuild of package may be required when its shared library dependencies are updated, not only when the package itself is updated.

Legend

Tango-view-refresh-red.pngThis article or section is out of date.Tango-view-refresh-red.png

Reason: libc++ and libc++abi were moved to the official repositories (Discuss in Talk:AUR helpers)

The #Comparison tables columns have the following meaning:

File review
Does not source the PKGBUILD at all by default; or, alerts the user and offers the opportunity to inspect the PKGBUILD manually before it is sourced. Some helpers are known to source PKGBUILDs before the user can inspect them, allowing malicious code to be executed.
Diff view
Ability to view package differences on inspection. Besides the PKGBUILD, this includes changes to files such as .install or .patch files.
Git clone
Uses git-clone(1) by default to retrieve build files from the AUR.
Reliable parser
Ability to handle complex packages by using the provided metadata (RPC/.SRCINFO) instead of PKGBUILD parsing, such as aws-cli-gitAUR.
Reliable solver
Ability to correctly solve and build complex dependency chains, such as ros-melodic-desktopAUR.
Split packages
Ability to correctly build and install:
  • Multiple packages from the same package base, without rebuilding or reinstalling multiple times, such as clionAUR.
  • Split packages which depend on a package from the same package base, such as libc++ and libc++abi.
  • Split packages independently, such as python-pyalsaaudioAUR and python2-pyalsaaudioAUR.
Shell completion
Tab completion is available for the listed shells.
Note:
  • Optional means that a feature is available, but only through a command-line argument or configuration option.
  • Partial means that a feature is not fully implemented, or that it partially deviates from the given criteria.

Comparison tables

Search and download

Name Written in Git clone Reliable parser Reliable solver Shell completion Specificity
auracle-gitAUR C++ Yes Yes Yes bash print build order
pbgetAUR Python Yes Yes
repoctlAUR Go No Yes zsh local repository
yaahAUR Bash Optional Yes bash

Search and build

Name Written in File review Diff view Git clone Reliable parser Reliable solver Split packages Shell completion Specificity
aurutilsAUR Bash Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes bash, zsh local repository, local patch application, package signing, clean chroot
bauerbillAUR Python Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes bash, zsh bb-wrapper for pacman wrapping, trust management
PKGBUILDerAUR Python No No Yes Yes Yes Partial pb for pacman wrapping
ruaAUR Rust Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes bash, zsh, fish local patch application, bubblewrap, .pkg.tar inspection

Pacman wrappers

Warning: pacman(8) wrappers abstract the work of the package manager. They may (optionally or by default) introduce unsafe flags, or other unexpected behavior leading to a defective system.
Note: The following pacman wrappers support batch (rather than on-demand) operations: pacaurAUR, pikaurAUR, yayAUR, auraAUR, paruAUR
Name Written in File review Diff view Git clone Reliable parser Reliable solver Split packages Unsafe flags Shell completion Specificity
auraAUR Haskell No Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes bash, fish, zsh
pacaurAUR Bash Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes --ask bash, zsh
pakku-gitAUR Nim Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes -Sy bash, zsh fetch PGP keys
paruAUR Rust Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes -Sy
--ask
bash, fish, zsh fetch PGP keys
pikaurAUR Python Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes -Sy bash, fish, zsh dynamic users
trizenAUR Perl Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial bash, fish, zsh
yayAUR Go Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes -Sy
--ask
bash, fish, zsh fetch PGP keys

Graphical

Warning: Usage of graphical AUR helpers may lead to a defective system, for example through unattended partial upgrades.
  • Argon — GTK 3 pacman wrapper written in Python.
https://github.com/14mRh4X0r/arch-argon || argonAUR
  • Cylon — TUI pacman wrapper written in Bash.
https://github.com/gavinlyonsrepo/cylon || cylonAUR
  • Kalu — Systray notification icon using libalpm and PolicyKit, with optional updater
https://github.com/Thulinma/kalu || kaluAUR
  • Octopi — Qt 5 pacman wrapper written in C++.
https://tintaescura.com/projects/octopi || octopiAUR
  • Pamac — Standalone GTK 3 package manager using libalpm(3) written in Vala.
https://gitlab.manjaro.org/applications/pamac || pamac-aurAUR
  • Pakku GUI — GTK 3 frontend for pakku written in Python.
https://gitlab.com/mrvik/pakku-gui || pakku-guiAUR
  • PkgBrowser — Qt 5 read-only browser for repository packages and AUR written in Python.
https://osdn.net/projects/pkgbrowser/ || pkgbrowserAUR
  • Yup — Curses TUI pacman wrapper written in Go.
https://github.com/ericm/yup || yupAUR

Maintenance

  • aur-out-of-date — Uses hoster APIs to check AUR packages for upstream changes.
https://github.com/simon04/aur-out-of-date || aur-out-of-dateAUR
  • aurpublish — Helper script to manage and upload AUR packages using git-subtree(1). Uses githooks(5) to verify the PKGBUILD integrity, generate .SRCINFO automatically, and create a commit message template.
https://github.com/eli-schwartz/aurpublish || aurpublish
https://github.com/archlinux/devtools || devtools
  • pkgbuild-watch — Looks for changes on the upstream web pages.
http://kmkeen.com/pkgbuild-watch || pkgbuild-watchAUR
  • pkgoutofdate — Parses the source URL from PKGBUILDs and tries to find new versions of packages by incrementing the version number and sending requests to the web server.
https://github.com/anatol/pkgoutofdate || pkgoutofdate-gitAUR

Other

  • aur-talk — Fetch and display AUR comments.
https://github.com/GermainZ/aur-talk || aur-talk-gitAUR
  • aurvote-utils — A set of utilities for managing AUR votes.
https://github.com/jadenPete/aurvote-utils || aurvote-utilsAUR
  • haskell-aur — Haskell library for accessing Aurweb RPC interface.
https://hackage.haskell.org/package/aur || haskell-aurAUR
  • package-query — Tool for querying libalpm(3) and the AUR.
https://github.com/archlinuxfr/package-query || package-queryAUR
  • python3-aur — Python 3 modules and helper utilities for accessing AUR package information and automating AUR interactions.
https://xyne.dev/projects/python3-aur || python3-aurAUR
https://gitlab.com/davidbittner/raur ||